After much speculation about the date, the election has finally been called and we are now in the longest election campaign for decades. While the media sit watching for gaffes and hunting for the most embarrassing candidate, the rest of us are left wondering whether we will see any real policy scrutiny. If a change in government comes, or if the pressure to appear tough on security lifts after the election, will we see any real change to the heavy hand of ineffective regulation largely enacted for appearance’s sake? Those of you who attended my AusNOG presentation will recall that I am not impressed with the state of our regulatory processes: we need to restore trust in government, and government needs to be worthy of that trust. Rest assured, I am banging on their doors to tell them ways to improve, and will be doing so again next week at the CommsDay Summit. Look out for our Election Wish List, which we will release soon. 

Speaking of AusNOG, it was great to catch up with so many of you and to hear of all the great projects conducted by our members and others across the industry. Everyone looked great in the IAA hoodies as well! Our IAA Systers@AusNOG program went down really well, so look out for any future versions and possible sponsorship opportunities. 

Sadly, also an AusNOG after event was marred by alleged bad behaviour and we thank the broader industry for your support in calling for change. The Australian Human Rights Commission study from 2018 reported that some 81% of employees in the information, media and telecommunications industry in the preceding five years had experienced sexual harassment at work. Compared with 42% in retail and 40% in mining. We clearly have an entrenched problem worse than other industries, and it’s utterly overdue this changed. We are working through what initiatives IAA can lead and what we want others to do. Either way, if you see harassment of any kind act to stop it, call it out as I did at AusNOG and protect your colleagues. We want this industry to be better so that all participants can enjoy and be productive in their working lives. Adherence to and promotion of codes of conduct are a good start, and stamping out this type of behaviour will go a long way to retaining great people within it. 

On the technology front, seeing us crack 800Gbps last month means we really need to get moving on our upgrades! The team are putting some more kit through our rigorous test plan in the hope of identifying the right upgrade path to a 400Gbps core, and even 400Gbps services. If only the supply chains could fulfil orders… we’re still awaiting gear we ordered last year! Rest assured, however, we won’t be out of ports or hit congestion for some time, as we still have good headroom everywhere. 

We’re also still working through our expansion options and trying to get a better understanding of what data centres are worth being in into the future. The newer ones are looking very attractive and are great pieces of construction and design. We partner with a number of them to provide services, so as you grow, we can grow into more locations. Don’t be afraid to let me know about your expansion plans or even just to bend my ear about how you’re weathering the industry storms! 

Til next month 

Narelle 

Last month, one of our staff members caught up with Diego Campagna – a founding member of WAIA who owned and operated Global Data Access Pty Ltd from 1994-1997 – one of Perth’s early Internet Service Providers (ISP). The company quickly expanded to Kalgoorlie, Karratha and Port Hedland and eventually merged with Starwon Internet. As an owner of a local ISP, Diego joined WAIA due to the heavy-handed regulation being proposed and subsequently exited the association as he moved away from the Internet industry.   

When talking about WA-IX and its contribution to Australia’s Internet, Diego spoke about how the Internet industry has become a lot harder to survive in due to more prominent players and how having an established IXP like WA-IX would have made a difference to his business. He reminisced about his ISP, which suffered significant income losses due to black hole routing by a larger ISP over a bandwidth dispute. Unfortunately, in the mid ’90s, legislation wasn’t reasonably equipped to keep up with some of the technology around, and his business suffered severely.   

These days, Diego is the Managing Director of Suburban Integration, a technology company specialising in audiovisual and security integration solutions travelling around WA doing what he is truly passionate about.   

We are excited to announce that in a few months’ time, we will be launching our brand new member portal! This portal is designed to enhance the user experience by being easy and intuitive. We will do our best to keep you up to date with what’s happening, so keep an eye on our newsletter and social media channels.  

In the spirit of celebration of WA-IX’s 25 years, one of our staff caught up with founding member Rod Bland. Now a Digital Marketing Consultant helping people grow their online businesses, he recalls joining WAIA as a founding member during the initial meeting at DIALix and some of the conversations about the construction of our very first IX.   

Starting as a customer services representative for Panther Computers, Rod’s founding membership was based on his casual interest in the Internet. He continued his membership for the next three years while working for PSINet and gradually moved on into different roles. Over 26 years, he went from systems administration to owning his own business – RamCity – to now running a vibrant consultancy business.  

Rod recalled conversations with numerous individuals, including Mark Hickey and Adrian Chadd, a young, highly intelligent young man who, at the age of 15, helped set up the BGP routing protocols on the IX. According to Rod, you could count the number of ISPs in Perth on one hand at that time, and they were being charged the earth for their previous services!  

Although he was not directly involved in the set-up of WA-IX, he contributed to the administrative duties of WAIA, and thanks to the contributions of founding members like him, we now operate the longest running, most efficient and reliable network of Internet Exchanges in Australia.